Until now, biomethanisation projects have increased due to initiatives by technical experts and local elected representatives who promoted biogas in response to problems managed by local city councils, such as management of urban waste and public transport. It is in this way that cities such as Berne or Lille have been able to demonstrate the viability of a biomethanisation project at the heart of urban management.

It is important to note that, today, political decision-makers are taking on the baton when it comes to initiating these kinds of projects. In fact, even if public transport or the processing of urban waste do not fall under the competence of the Lombardy region, it is up to the region to make decisions on matters of energy and environmental policy. Its position is quite clear: if the hope is that in the long term hydrogen will be The solution, in the meantime it must be gas – both natural and biomethane. As a result, the Lombardy region has already equipped itself with the necessary means: between 2006 and 2007, there were already 24 biomethanisation plants, 80 are under construction and 30 million Euros have already been released by the region to finance biogas production projects. This policy is accompanied by compulsory schemes (since 2006, all new petrol stations must be able to offer gas in order to obtain an opening licence) and incentive schemes (in January 2008, setting up of an Ecopass, a sort of “transport cheque” to encourage users). It was realised that help with distribution was fundamental to encourage users as much as transport operators or car manufacturers, in order to get away from the “chicken or egg” situation: no cars because no distribution network, no distribution because no production, and no production because no cars to supply!